Lalu Yadav calls for Bihar bandh today

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav has called for a state-wide bandh on Monday in protest against the Centre for not disclosing caste census data.

He said, “we will not rest till the government releases the caste census data.”

Yadav and his party leaders have been protesting for the release of the data since last one month and sat on a day-long fast over this issue on Sunday.

The former Bihar chief minister said that the data would reveal the real numbers of scheduled castes and schedule tribes, which he claimed, has increased three times over the years.

He said, “There is a constitutional provision for proportionate reservation for SCs and STs according to their population. At present, it is being given on the basis of their population as per the caste census of 1931. When the figures of the new caste census come out, we will demand reservation for them on that basis.”

“We know that the new caste census figures are very alarming. The population of SCs and STs has more than tripled since 1931 and the BJP-led central government is trying to suppress it, so that it doesn’t have to give the poor their rightful due,” he further added.

According to RJD leaders, they may also take out a protest march soon in New Delhi if the government fails to release the data at the earliest.

The bandh comes two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed BJP-led NDA’s election campaign in the state. While Modi had reached out to Bihar’s Yadav voters, Lalu hit out at the Prime Minister, calling him “Kaliya Naag”, a mythical serpent the Hindu God had slain, declaring “we will crush him.”

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